Cheyenne at Mouth of the Teton River (1825)
On 6 July 1825 at the mouth of the Teton River, Cheyenne leaders acknowledged United States supremacy and agreed to licensed trade.
- Signed
- July 6, 1825
- Senate
- Ratified
- Promises
- 0 of 1 broken or only partly kept
What happened
What happened
On 6 July 1825, at the mouth of the Teton River, Brigadier General Henry Atkinson and Major Benjamin O'Fallon, Indian agent, signed a treaty for the United States with the chiefs, head men and warriors of the Chayenne (Cheyenne) tribe, the day after the Sioune and Oglala treaty at the same place.
In Article 1 of the treaty, the Chayenne tribe admit that they live within the territorial limits of the United States, acknowledge its supremacy, and claim its protection, and they admit the right of the United States to regulate all trade and intercourse with them. In return the United States agrees to receive them into its friendship and under its protection, and to extend such benefits and acts of kindness as the President thinks convenient, just and proper.
Trade is to happen only at places the President designates, and only American citizens the United States has authorized may trade with them. The United States agrees to license traders under mild and equitable regulations; the tribe agrees to protect those traders and to arrest unauthorized outsiders. For injuries by individuals there is to be no private revenge. Chiefs must deliver accused persons to be punished under United States law, and try to recover stolen horses. The United States guarantees indemnity if its own citizens steal from them and the property cannot be recovered. The tribe also promises never to supply guns or ammunition to any nation not in amity with the United States.
The treaty cedes no land. The treaty was proclaimed on 6 February 1826.
What was promised, and what happened
- Not known
Receive the tribe into friendship and protection and extend such benefits as the President thinks proper. (Art. 2)
extend to them, from time to time, such benefits and acts of kindness as may be convenient
treaties.okstate.edu
Good to know. The promised protection and benefits were left to what the President found "convenient" and "just and proper", and the text gives only the U.S. commissioners' view.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
acknowledge their supremacy, and claim their protection
Treaty with the Cheyenne Tribe, 1825, Tribal Treaties Databasenone but American citizens, duly authorized by the United States, shall be admitted to trade or hold intercourse with
Treaty with the Cheyenne Tribe, 1825, Tribal Treaties Databaseno private revenge or retaliation shall take place
Treaty with the Cheyenne Tribe, 1825, Tribal Treaties DatabaseDone at the mouth of the Teton River, this sixth day of July, A. D. 1825
Treaty with the Cheyenne Tribe, 1825, Tribal Treaties Database
Research notes. The protection and 'benefits' promise is conditioned on what the President finds 'convenient' and 'just and proper'; the sources cited do not show whether it was delivered. The text records the commissioners' view only, not the tribe's own account.
What happened next
Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.
Who is doing the work today
The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
- Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana
Working with these nations
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Nation government Seeking return of about 6,700 acres at Fort Reno
- Right Relationship Boulder (Land Group) Native-led Funds tribal youth camps and gatherings, plant-gathering access, trail content with tribes, pushes for tribal… Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Sources
Sources
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-cheyenne-tribe-1825-0232reference work
July 6, 1825. | 7 Stat., 255. / scan: 232 TREATY WITH THE CHEYENNE TRIBE, 1825.·
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.